Simon Royle's Blog

I promised an update and here it is. Hopefully sometime next week I’ll find some time to write about how Thailand is managing and perhaps provide a crystal ball on some things I think will happen this year. I’m back into editing after a spell ...

The post Bangkok Heat: Bangkok Series #3 Update on writing progress appeared first on SIMON ROYLE.

I haven’t been out to a restaurant in a long while, over a year – the simple reason being that until the middle of last month I remained unvaccinated and Covid is still a risk. What I have been doing is ordering food online either ...

The post Great Food Online appeared first on SIMON ROYLE.

Warning!!! This post will cost you hours of timeSo... I promised I'd give you all an update on writing progress, and I will. Soon. Before that let me show you what I've been reading, not all of it, because there were some duds and I'm ...

The post Authors I Know You’ll Love appeared first on SIMON ROYLE.

Gawd, listening to that brought back some memories... it used to be one of my "road songs". Back in the day, when I was still living in Hong Kong, I'd buy a Thai business class seat and wing my way down to Thailand every chance ...

From an excellent article in The New Yorker, noir novel writing; is defined by Otto Penzler as “Most mystery fiction focusses on the detective, and noir fiction focusses on the villain. The people in noir fiction are dark and doomed—they are losers, they are pessimistic, ...

March 2021 The important thing first - alcohol is being served in restaurants again. I know, from talking with colleagues all over the world, the pandemic has had a profound impact on our lives.  It is somewhat ironic that the time period I am currently ...

Viggo does a nifty double act here, and neither character could be called heroic; just about everyone is a villain, and if not they're either cops or victims. The setting is river marshland, as much a character as the actors. The acting is solid throughout ...

In The Simple Art of Murder, Raymond Chandler lays a hard series of jabs to the guts of most "detective" novels prior to and including his own era - he wields a harsh pen against some of his contemporary's. What follows are then short stories penned by the "sage grandfather of noir".

The results from the survey are in:
Most of you appreciate the content on the site, and virtually all of you have an opinion on how it could be improved - thank you.

Halfway or thereabouts, neither here nor there really. A milestone though. One of the goals I've set is to write every day - no matter what. In any given day I do a lot of writing. During the day job a large amount; and then ...